REZ

Rez is a one in a million game. A vision so confident, so bold, and so focused only comes around every decade or so. Released on the Dreamcast in late 2001 in Japan, ported for all regions on the PlayStation 2 in 2002, rereleased in HD for the Xbox 360 in 2008, remastered for VR on the PlayStation 4 in 2016, it’s now fully featured, fully formed on Steam and Windows in 2017. Rez Infinite may not technically be in the SEGA family on account of series rights apparently now owned by Enhance Games, but the legacy started with Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s concepts makes it only fitting to honor it here.

It’s a modern marvel, at once distinct, yet familiar; unique, yet clear in its inspirations; as awe-inspiring as it is clearly dated. Standing head and shoulders above its contemporaries in concept, presentation, and vision, no game comes close to it; before or since.

For the record before you hit the jump, there are certain features of Rez Infinite for the PC that I will not, and cannot review. Trance vibration is functional but I do not have the controllers for it, nor will I talk about the VR features of the game. The screenshots are also a lower res 720p than 1080p, apologies. Now, let us dive into synesthesia, and experience Mizuguchi’s masterpiece.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s rhythm shooter Rez originally hit Japanese Dreamcasts in December of 2001. Since then, it’s gone through a PlayStation 2 update, an Xbox 360 re-release, a VR-focused remaster on PlayStation 4, and now finally, the SEGA classic has hit PC. Teased yesterday by Enhance Games, Rez Infinite has finally hit Steam, currently only available on Windows.

The release comes feature complete; the full PS4 remaster, free deluxe DLC, enhancements for 4K resolution and increased texture quality from previous versions, as well as full compatibility with Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The VR support even goes so far as to include most common control inputs for the platform. At time of this writing, the game’s launch is accompanied by a 20% discount, hitting $19.99 USD and £15.99 BP.

We’ll have our own review and write-up for Rez Infinite soon(this writer particularly intended to review the PS4 version which never panned out), but for now, why not take a look at the launch trailer and Digital Foundry’s breakdown of performance under the jump?

For those not in the know, it seems SEGA has licensed the Rez IP and let Tetsuya Mizuguchi work on the franchise with other publishers. The first attempt was Rez HD on Xbox Live which was published by Microsoft Studios, then last year we had Rez Infinite which added more content and supported PlayStation VR. No idea if the PC version will support VR out of the box, but I’m assuming it will. What are your thoughts? Will you be picking up Rez Infinite on steam if it comes out tomorrow?

A new video posted to Enhance Games’ YouTube channel features Tetsuya Mizuguchi talking about the creation of the original Rez and Rez Infinite. He discusses how he and his team wanted to make an environment where the player could have the ability to move freely and take advantage of stronger hardware to create a much more vivid experience.

Rez Infinite releases for the PlayStation 4 digitally in just under 2 weeks on October 13th, 2016. Gamers interested in specialty merchandise or a physical copy will have to order those through iam8bit. Be sure to read our recent hands-on preview of the game over here

The third iteration of Rez is only a few weeks away and Enhance Games took the PlayStation stage at Tokyo Game Show to once again demo the game. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, in his synesthesia suit garments, revisited a demo that has been shown for some time now. In it, the player travels through three out of order sections of Area 1, along with Area 4’s boss. SEGAbits was in attendance at Tokyo Game Show 2016 and had a chance to preview the game. What did we think? Read on!

SEGA has created some highly popular and cult classic series of games that have stuck with people over the years. While most of you guys already know that Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his big 25th Anniversary this year, many other games get ignored because they aren’t as relevant as they used to be. Today we will list those mostly ignored video game franchises we all love. Did your favorite game make our list?

Playstation experience is happening now, and a special announcement was made by former SEGA developer Tetsuya Mizuguchi that Rez will be releasing to the PlayStation 4 as Rez Infinite and better yet will utilize PlayStation VR! You can see gameplay footage in the link above, and more details as we hear them.

It’s unfortunate that a game like United Game Artists’ Rez, the third and final title from the developer, ended up releasing at the time it did. One one hand it could be said that it was one of the Dreamcast’s final great games from an in-house developer, but on the other hand due to the time in which it was released over in Japan, US and European releases were at the time up in the air. While the United States missed out on Shenmue II, Headhunter, and Rez, those in Europe were lucky enough to end up with all three titles for their blue swirl emblazoned console. When it comes to digging up english language commercials for Rez, prepare to be disappointed. Due to SEGA’s shifting interests, english Dreamcast ads for the game are non-existent. In fact, when digging for UGA game ads, I didn’t even come across a Japanese Dreamcast ad for the game.

Thankfully, not all is lost! Rez saw worldwide release on Sony’s Playstation 2, and while english ads still seemingly never materialized, we did get a collection of corny Japanese ads for the game. The first, seen above, features a man on a toilet who gets into a wall pounding contest with a man who really has to go. They end up pounding the wall in rhythm, and in turn they “Open New Sense” before the man outside punches straight through the wall.

Like Space Channel 5, United Game Artists’ Rez was a game in which music was not only a defining element, but a vital one. While Rez played very similarly to the Panzer Dragoon rail shooters, music acted as a heartbeat for the game, a pulse which every action was tied to. To say Rez was a rhythm game, however, would be inaccurate. Attacking enemies out of synch with the beat was doable, and in some of the more hectic moments of the game it was necessary. Yet if you truly gave in to the game’s soundtrack and pulse you’d discover a whole other level of play where music and visuals meld into some magical new sensation.

Rez’s soundtrack featured the likes of Keiichi Sugiyama, Ken Ishii, Mist, Joujouka and Adam Freeland. Each artist contributed a unique sound a feel for their respective stages, and no track was more memorable than Adam Freeland’s “Fear”. Perhaps I say this because the track accompanies the final stage, a moment when the game is building to its big climax and the player is now fully invested. “Fear” itself is quite epic, starting small and building to a electronic string section crescendo. Seeing as Rez‘s soundtrack is popular with fans, the music is readily available on both an official game soundtrack and on albums from the individual artists. However, unique to Adam Freeland’s “Fear” is the fact that while the track is out there, the in-game edit is not… until now.

This month we are proud to celebrate the unique and musical driven games of United Game Artists (ユナイテッド・ゲーム・アーティスツ). The team was made up of members of SEGA AM6 and headed by Sega AM3’s Tetsuya Mizuguchi. Unfortunately, the team was short lived and only released three titles under the ‘United Game Artists’ banner. Regardless, those three games have made such an impact on us gamers that we are still talking about them over a decade later.

The onset of a new year will inevitably brings new experiences. Though a healthy amount of fear for new experiences never hurts, do not let it control you. Embrace the experiences of the coming year and embrace the challenges that you will face. Do not fear failure, because nothing is worse then simply refusing to try.

After you spend hours in your favorite SEGA game, you always get those damn catchy tunes stuck in your head. They won’t go away, now we will share our favorite SEGA soundtracks, hopefully they stay stuck in your brain like they have ours.

If your favorite soundtrack wasn’t featured, make sure you head down to the comment section and share.

The SEGA europe blog has just (as in a few minutes ago) announced that European magazine GamesTM is celebrating their 100th issue by releasing 100 alternate covers to represent their list of the top 100 video games. Of course, SEGA is on the list, so we can expect 12 covers to represent our favorite company. See the other six covers after the jump.

So with the new announcement of Children of Eden, gamers that have not experienced Rez are obviously intrested in giving the game a go. Especially with all the awards that Children of Eden is snatching up at E3. Playing Rez HD is easy for 360 owners, having the game on their marketplace. PS3 only owners, not so much. When asked on twitter if a user should get Rez on PS2 or just wait for Rez HD on PS3, Q Entertainment responded:

“I’d buy it on PS2 if I were you. If it comes to PSN, it probably won’t be any time soon. Maybe Sega will port it to XBLA/PSN? Duno” – Q Entertainment Twitter

This is true, Rez licenses is still owned by SEGA. Rez HD had to be done under the permission of SEGA. I think, if SEGA wanted to do a PSN/XBLA (with extra stuff) now is the time, especially when everyone is going crazy over Children of Eden.

Above is the trailer for Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Child of Eden, billed as the spiritual successor for Rez. The game will be heading for both PS3 and Xbox 360. The game is being published by Ubisoft, so we won’t be covering the game from now on. But it is good to see that Mizuguchi is still kicking, can’t wait to play it.